忠诚的小马比尔 - 美国Atmospheric Black Metal/Shoegaze/Electronic乐队Lammoth专访

Volcano Magazine
12 minutes ago
23 min read

如果你关注最近的黑盯鞋与后黑金属，那么我想推荐这一张有些特别的专辑——来自美国北卡罗莱纳的单人黑金属计划Lammoth的首张全长专辑《Onward》。首先你可能会疑惑的是，很难想到这张如此可爱的封面居然是一张黑金属专辑。而专辑的主角正是封面上的这匹小马——托尔金世界里忠诚的小马比尔。这张专辑融合了大量的8bit元素，通过非传统的温暖吉他riff代理观众进入小马比尔治愈创伤的旅程。在这张专辑中，Lammoth选择以极为克制的方式渲染悲伤情绪，通过巧妙地融合灵动的合成器音色，让专辑听起来如同在阳光下呼吸着雨后清新的空气。在《Onward》专辑发行后我们与Lammoth背后的音乐家Robert Sanford进行了一次专访。

（V: 代表笔者 R: 代表Robert Sanford）

If you've been following recent blackgaze and post-black metal, I'd like to recommend a rather special album—*Onward*, the debut full-length from Lammoth, a one-man black metal project from North Carolina, USA. At first, you might be puzzled: it's hard to imagine that such an adorable cover art belongs to a black metal album. And the protagonist of the cover is exactly the pony on it—Bill the loyal pony from Tolkien's legendarium. This album incorporates a heavy dose of 8-bit elements, using unconventional warm guitar riffs to guide listeners into Bill the pony's healing journey. On this record, Lammoth chooses to render sorrow with remarkable restraint, and through the clever integration of nimble synth tones, the album feels like breathing fresh post-rain air under the sunlight. Following the release of Onward, we had an interview with Robert Sanford, the musician behind Lammoth.

(V: Represents the author; R: Represents Robert Sanford)

采访对象：Robert Sanford（Lammoth乐队创始人）

采访时间：2026.08.27

V: 你好Robert！非常感谢你接受我们的采访。这应该是你第一次接受中国金属乐杂志的采访，请先向各位读者们和乐迷们做个自我介绍吧。作为单人金属乐队Lammoth的主脑，你最开始接触到金属乐是什么时候？是哪些乐队或者音乐家让你想要创作自己的音乐？

Hello Robert! Thank you so much for taking the time to sit down with us for this interview. This should be your first time being interviewed by a Chinese metal magazine, so please start by introducing yourself to our readers and fans. As the mastermind behind the solo metal project Lammoth, when did you first get into metal music? And which bands or musicians inspired you to start creating your own music?

R: 感谢邀请我来接受采访，这确实是我第一次接受中国杂志的采访，非常感谢这次机会！我是在2003年左右读小学时，年纪还很小的时候开始接触金属音乐的。当时我最好的朋友有个哥哥，是他带我们入了Korn、Slipknot和Linkin Park的坑，我几乎瞬间就爱上了这个流派。在我的金属音乐之旅中，我经历了许多不同流派的阶段，尤其是随着我个人逐渐成熟和变化。我认为我一生中听过的每一位艺术家都以某种形式激励过我，但就创立Lammoth而言，具体激励我的艺术家包括Immortal、Summoning、Enslaved、Limbonic Art和Deafheaven。当然还有许多许多其他艺术家，而且随着这个项目的演变，我的音乐启发来源也在不断变化，但正是这些乐队让我最初萌生了创立这个项目的想法。

Thank you for having me, this is indeed my first time interviewing with a Chinese magazine, and I’m very grateful for the opportunity! I first got into metal music when I was very young in elementary school around 2003. My best friend at the time had an older brother who got us into stuff like Korn, Slipknot, and Linkin Park and I pretty much instantly fell in love with the genre. Over my metal journey I’ve had many phases with different sub-genres, especially as I matured and changed as a person. I think every artist I’ve listened to in my life has inspired me in some shape or form, but specifically for starting Lammoth, some of the artists that inspired me were Immortal, Summoning, Enslaved, Limbonic Art, and Deafheaven. There’s been many, many others, and it’s changed as the project has evolved, but those were really the ones that made me want to start this project to begin with.

V: 我想先请你介绍一下乐队的历史。Lammoth是你的第一支乐队吗？是什么让你想创立这个乐队？你又为什么会给乐队起名为Lammoth？

Is Lammoth your first band? What made you want to start this band? And why did you choose the name Lammoth?

R: Lammoth并不是我的第一支乐队，年轻时我参加过几支不太认真的乐队，也认真参与过几个金属音乐项目，但Lammoth是我投入时间最多的项目。我创立Lammoth主要是为了寻找一个个人创作的出口，将我对托尔金和金属音乐的热情结合起来，创作出完全符合我个人品味的作品。刚开始的时候，我其实根本没打算公开发布任何作品，纯粹是为了好玩。但我把作品给一些亲密的朋友听后，他们鼓励我真正将其发布出来。我在阅读《精灵宝钻》时选定了“Lammoth”这个名字——当时读到摩格斯发出那声震天咆哮的段落，我觉得这个名字对于一个黑金属项目来说再贴切不过了。

Lammoth is not my first band, I was in a handful of less serious bands growing up, and I’ve been involved more seriously with a couple of metal projects, but Lammoth has been the project I’ve spent the most time with. I mostly started Lammoth because I wanted a personal creative outlet to combine my passions for Tolkien and metal and make something tailored specific to my taste. When I first started I never really intended to release anything publicly, I just did it for fun. But I would show it to some close friends and they encouraged me to actually release it. I chose the name Lammoth while reading the Silmarillion, I came across the passage when Morgoth gives out his great cry, and I thought it sounded so relevant for a black metal project.

V: Lammoth于2021年成立，不过你在2024年才发布第一首单曲《Nightshade of Mirkwood》，为何这中间会间隔这么久呢？

Lammoth was formed in 2021, but you only released your first single "Nightshade of Mirkwood" in 2024. Why was there such a long gap in between?

R: 主要是因为我一直在摸索自己想要怎么录制音乐。刚开始这个项目时，我用一台四轨磁带录音机包办所有工作，鼓则用一台老式的Roland TR-626鼓机来制作。我用这种方式制作了几首音质非常低保真的demo，但最终我决定要完全采用数字化制作，追求更现代的制作水准。另外，正如我之前提到的，那段时间我其实还没考虑过要公开发布任何作品，那只是我为了好玩而做的东西。

It was mostly me figuring out how I wanted to record music. When I started the project I was doing everything on a four track tape recorder, and I used an old Roland TR-626 drum machine for the drums. I made a handful of demos with a very lo-fi sound, but eventually I decided that I really wanted to do everything digitally and go for a more modern production quality. Also like I mentioned earlier, during this time I wasn’t really considering releasing anything publicly yet, it was just something I did for fun.

V: 2026年8月7日，你的单人黑金属乐队Lammoth发行了首张全长专辑《Onward》。你负责这张专辑的所有音乐以及人声的演唱。可以发行一下这张专辑你大概是从何时开始准备的吗？是什么让你想创作这张专辑？

On August 7, 2026, your one-man black metal band, Lammoth, released its debut full-length album, Onward. You were responsible for all the music and vocals on this album. Could you tell us roughly when you started preparing for this album? What inspired you to create it?

R: 我大概在2025年8月左右开始为《Onward》创作，但起初进展很缓慢，我想大部分创作是在2025年11月到12月之间完成的。其实，这张专辑的灵感来源有很多。2025年，我经历了一段时期，对当时黑金属圈的现状感到非常沮丧和失望。似乎只要稍微深入挖掘任何内容，就会发现与仇恨意识形态或可疑的NSBM（国家社会主义黑金属）内容有关联，我对这个流派感到极其厌倦，尤其是考虑到当时世界各地发生的一切。这让我很难真正享受聆听黑金属的乐趣，所以我最终决定暂时远离金属音乐。那时我主要听电子游戏原声带以及日本或韩国的盯鞋音乐，我认为这在很大程度上启发了这张专辑的音乐风格。我合作的唱片厂牌Fiadh Productions是一家致力于动物福利的非营利厂牌，他们通过Bandcamp提供订阅服务，会员每季度可以收到一张以动物为主题的磁带。2025年年中，他们问我是否有兴趣制作一张，那时我便萌生了以“小马比尔”为主题的创意。将所有这些元素串联起来，我认为这正是《Onward》这张专辑诞生的主要契机。

I started writing for Onward roughly around August 2025, but it was slow moving to begin with, most of the writing happened I think between November and December 2025. There were a lot of things that inspired this album really. I reached a period in 2025 where I became really frustrated and disappointed with the current state of the black metal scene. It seemed like every rock you overturned you would find connections to hateful ideologies or sketchy NSBM stuff, and I just got so tired of the genre, especially with all of the things happening around the world. It made it hard for me to really enjoy listening to black metal, so I ended up just taking a really long break from metal in general. I was listening to primarily video game soundtracks and Japanese or Korean shoegaze, and I think that was a big part of what inspired the sound. The record label I work with, Fiadh Productions, is a non-profit label who supports animal welfare, and they have a subscription thing through Bandcamp where members can get a quarterly animal themed tape. They asked me in the middle of 2025 if I was interested in doing one, and that’s when I had the idea of making it Bill the Pony themed. Connecting all those dots I think is where Onward was mostly born from.

V: 这张专辑的一大特点是专辑中有大量的8bit音效，这让《Onward》专辑首先会给人一种游戏原声的质感，但你将这些特别的经典8bit音色与黑金属融合得恰到好处。在延续了你部分以往的风格的同时也有许多新的实验性的尝试。在作曲的过程中，让合成器部分与黑金属元素互相融合这方面，时你认为最难的地方是什么？

One of the standout features of this album is the heavy use of 8-bit sound effects, which immediately gives Onward a video-game-soundtrack quality—yet you've blended those classic 8-bit tones with black metal perfectly. While it carries forward some of your earlier style, there are also plenty of new experimental touches. In the songwriting process, what did you find to be the most challenging part of merging the synthesizer elements with the black metal components?

R: 问得好，我之前还没怎么认真考虑过这个问题。说来也巧，我觉得最大的挑战在于如何为合成器旋律设计合适的吉他和弦进行。我无法再沿用以往的金属和弦进行或歌曲结构，所以不得不更多地借鉴其他音乐风格，这固然很有挑战性，但我认为也正是这种尝试造就了这张专辑如此独特的声音。

That’s a good question, I hadn’t really thought about that too much yet. Funny enough, I think coming up with the guitar chord progressions to support the synth melodies was the biggest challenge. I couldn’t really stick to my usual metal chord progressions or song structures, so I found myself having to reach from other genres so much more, which was challenging, but is also I think what made the album have such a unique sound.

V: 大多数的托尔金主题金属乐都会以某个英雄人物或者一段传奇的历史作为创作的出发点，为什么《Onward》却选择了一个边缘的非人类角色——小马Bill作为专辑的主角？

Most Tolkien-themed metal music takes a heroic figure or a legendary historical event as its starting point. Why did “Onward” choose a marginal non-human character—Bill the pony—as the protagonist of the album?

R: 对我而言，《指环王》的核心理念在于没有绝对的中心英雄，每个人都为了共同的目标而扮演着各自的角色，而且每个人都有缺点。最初我选择小马比尔是因为我想为Fiadh厂牌延续动物主题的创作，同时也想保持霍比特人的主题。但随着思考的深入，我意识到比尔的故事非常引人入胜，讲述了他如何逃离虐待、克服创伤。这个故事深深地触动了我，在我人生低谷时给了我希望，我想它或许也能给其他人带来同样的力量。

A big part of Lord of the Rings to me is the idea that there is no one central hero, everyone plays a role for the greater good, and everyone has flaws. Initially I picked Bill the Pony because I was trying to stick with the animal theme for Fiadh and also stay hobbit themed, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Bill had such a compelling story about escaping abuse and dealing with trauma. It resonated with me and gave me hope during some dark times, and I thought it might do the same for others.

V: 我看到你在Instagram上为每一首歌所讲的故事都很用心地写了介绍（甚至没有歌词的track5也有！），这让专辑像是一场ear movie。你是怎样决定整个故事应该分给多少首歌并让它们互相关联起来的？在音乐上，你又是怎样为这些不同的故事章节渲染不同的情绪的？

I saw that you put a lot of care into writing introductions for each song on Instagram (even for Track 5, which has no lyrics!), which makes the album feel like an ear movie. How did you decide how many songs the entire story should be divided into and how to connect them all together? And musically, how did you go about rendering different emotions for these different story chapters?

R: 我一开始并没有确定歌曲的总数，但我大致构思了一些我认为对比尔的故事至关重要的时刻，比如：被比尔·弗尼卖给霍比特人、在摩瑞亚之门被放走，或者在搜捕夏尔时一脚踢在比尔·弗尼的脸上。因此，有些歌曲我是先构思好故事，再尝试唤起与之相符的情感；而另一些歌曲则相反——我先构思出音乐创意，再挑选故事中与之契合的片段。我总共构思了大约17个不同的创意，虽然并非全都是完整的歌曲，但我逐一审视了所有创意，挑选出那些我认为最具张力且能完整讲述整个故事的创意，同时确保专辑时长控制在合理范围内。

I hadn’t really decided on a total number of songs from the beginning, but I had a loose idea of moments which I felt like were essential for Bill’s story like: being sold to the hobbits from Bill Ferny, being let go at the gates of Moria, or kicking Bill Ferny in the face during the scouring of the Shire. So for some songs, I had a story in mind and I tried to conjure up emotions which fit the story, other songs I did the opposite where I came up with an idea musically and I picked a part of the story that I felt matched the music. I think I came up with around 17 different ideas total, not all of them full songs, but I went through all of them and picked the ideas I felt were strongest and could tell the whole story, all while staying within limits of a good album length.

V: 仅仅一周之内，《Onward》专辑就在Youtube上收获了超过一万的播放量，目前为止《Onward》收获了非常多来自专业音乐媒体以及乐迷们的好评。在你发行这张全长专辑时，你有想到这张专辑会受到这么多的关注吗？

Within just one week, the album “Onward” garnered over 10,000 views on YouTube, and so far, it has received numerous positive reviews from music critics and fans. When you released this full-length album, did you anticipate it would receive so much attention?

R: 我绝对没想到它会引起这么大的关注！！我只是一个在家里手搓怪异音乐的 DIY 单人音乐家，感觉这张专辑里有很多小众且天马行空的创意，它不会与很多人产生联系或共鸣。我认为我总体上是一个自我意识很强的人，所以我想我可能只需要对自己更有信心，但显然我离我的期望还很远，哈哈！

I absolutely was not expecting all the attention it’s received!! I’m just a one man DIY artist making weirdo music in my house, and I felt like this album had a lot of niche and far fetched ideas that it would not connect or resonate with a lot of people. I think I’m a really self-conscious person in general, so I guess I probably just need to have more confidence in myself, but apparently I was way off with my expectations haha!!

V: 我看到你有Spotify主页，但你没有选择将《Onward》专辑和之前的专辑上传到Spotify这样的主流的流媒体平台，这是为什么？

I see that you have a Spotify homepage, but you did not choose to upload the "Onward" album and previous albums to a mainstream streaming platform like Spotify. What’s the reason?

R: 是的，我以前确实把我的音乐上传过Spotify，但去年我最终还是把它们下架了。过去几年里，流媒体一直是一个颇具争议的话题，涉及它对艺术家的道德影响，以及它如何塑造了我们的音乐体验，尤其是随着人工智能的兴起。就人工智能和艺术家报酬问题而言，Spotify的表现尤为糟糕；而当Spotify首席执行官丹尼尔·埃克（Daniel Ek）开始向人工智能军用无人机技术投资数百万美元时，这真的成了压垮我的最后一根稻草。从Spotify撤下音乐作品后，我继续在其他流媒体平台上发布音乐，但随着时间的推移，我真的对流媒体这种模式本身感到厌倦了。我提倡人们重新拥有更多自己的实体音乐，无论是实体唱片还是数字唱片，并更加有意识地选择我们听什么音乐。

Yeah, I had uploaded my music to Spotify in the past, but ended up taking it down last year. Streaming has been sort of a controversial topic over the past few years regarding how ethical it is for artists, and how it has shaped how we experience music, especially with the rise of AI. Spotify specifically has been one of the worst regarding AI, artist compensation, and then when Spotify CEO Daniel Ek started investing millions of dollars in AI military drone tech, that was really the final straw for me. After I pulled my music from Spotify I continued to upload to the other streaming services, but as time goes on I really just am tired of streaming in general. I am advocating for people to own more of their music again whether physically or digitally, and to make more conscious decisions about what we listen to.

V: 许多乐迷是通过《Onward》专辑第一次认识你的，我注意到许多的评论里都提到一点是“仅仅是听了专辑的开头我就喜欢上了这张专辑”。你认为是什么让《Onward》杂志专辑在开头的短时间内就能得到听者的喜欢，并吸引听者接着完整听完这张专辑？

Many fans first got to know you through the album “Onward”, and I've noticed that many reviews and comments mention that "I loved the album after just listening to the beginning." What do you think made “Onward” so appealing to listeners in the short time it started, and what kept them listening to the whole album?

R: 说实话，我觉得专辑封面是吸引人的重要因素。Jacob Kuddes 完美地捕捉到了小马比尔的独特气质，在我看来，这张封面看起来既令人心生向往又充满慰藉。如果我在唱片店或者Bandcamp上看到这张封面，我肯定会想听听看。此外，我认为音乐本身所传递的那种充满希望和喜悦的感觉，也是人们所欣赏的。我收到了很多听众的留言，他们说这张专辑帮助他们度过了艰难的日子，或者让他们感到心情愉悦。如今这个世界充满了太多阴暗，每个人都值得拥有片刻喘息，并感受到希望！

If I’m honest, I think the album artwork is a big part of the appeal. Jacob Kuddes did such a phenomenal job capturing the vibe of Bill the pony, and to me it just looks so inviting and comforting. If I was in a record store or browsing on Bandcamp and saw that cover, I would for sure want to listen. But also, I think the music has such a hopeful and joyous feeling that people appreciate. I’ve gotten a lot of messages from people saying how it’s gotten them through rough days or how it makes them feel good. We have too much darkness in the world right now, everybody deserves a little break and to feel hope!

V: 在今年的6月15号，你发布了《A Gardener》这首歌曲作为《Onward》专辑的前瞻，这也是专辑完整释出之前的唯一一首来自专辑的歌曲，为什么会选择首先发布这首歌？

On June 15th of this year, you released the song "A Gardener" as a preview of the album "Onward". This was the only song from the album before its full release. Why did you choose to release this song first?

R:《A Gardener》实际上是我为这张专辑完成的第一首完整歌曲，它确实为专辑的其余部分定下了基调。对我来说，这首歌也非常能体现整张专辑的氛围，而且有着如此鲜明、振奋人心的旋律。山姆·甘姆吉和小马比尔是一对极具标志性的搭档，我觉得这首歌最适合作为单曲发行。

A Gardener was actually the first complete song I finished for the album, and is really the song that set the tone for the rest of the album. It also is to me very representative of the vibe, and has such a distinct uplifting sound. Sam Gamgee and Bill the Pony are such an iconic duo, I felt like it was the best one for a single.

V: 《Onward》别具一格的专辑封面也是许多乐迷打开这张专辑的原因。Metal Injection评价为这张封面为“This Is the Cutest Black Metal Album Cover of All Time”。这张专辑封面由Jacob Kuddes绘制，可以向我们介绍一下这位艺术家吗？最开始你是怎样接触到Jacob的作品的？为什么会选择他来为你绘制这张专辑封面？

The unique album cover of “Onward” is one of the reasons many fans turned to the album. Metal Injection described the cover as "This Is the Cutest Black Metal Album Cover of All Time." The album cover was designed by Jacob Kuddes. Could you tell us about this artist? How did you first come across Jacob's work? Why did you choose him to design this album cover?

R: 我是在Instagram上认识Jacob的，我不记得是谁先关注了谁，但我记得我特别喜欢他的一些吉卜力风格的作品。我记得看过他为《风之谷》设计的封面，非常喜欢。我当时就想创作一幅类似吉卜力、塞尔达传说或弗莱迪风格的视觉艺术作品。我记得当时我在浏览Instagram上我关注的艺术家，列出了一个我认为合适的艺术家名单，Jacob就是其中之一。巧合的是，Jacob后来联系我，问我是否需要为周边产品等设计任何艺术作品，我觉得这是宇宙给我的暗示！我无比感激是Jacob做了这件事，他是一位善良又有才华的人，也是人权倡导者。他还创作了一部非常酷的原创怪兽漫画系列《现代甲壳》（Modern Carapace），大家都应该去看看！

I met Jacob through Instagram, I can’t remember who followed who first, but I remember being particularly drawn to some of his Ghibli inspired pieces. I remember seeing one he did for Nausica that I really liked. I had a vision in mind for a sort of Ghibli, Zelda, or Frieren inspired piece of art. I remember I was going through artists I followed on Instagram and I had made a short list of artists who I thought would be a good fit, Jacob being one of them. Then ironically Jacob messaged me if I needed any artwork made for merch, etc., and I considered it a sign from the universe! I could not be more grateful that Jacob was the one to do it, he’s such a kind and talented person who advocates for human rights. He also makes a very cool original kaiju graphic novel series called Modern Carapace that everyone should go check out!

V: 我很好奇当你和Jacob说明这张画作将会是一张黑金属专辑封面时，Jacob的想法是什么？在创作这张封面的初期，你是如何与Jacob沟通你对专辑封面的想法的？

I'm curious about Jacob's thoughts when you told him this artwork would be the cover for a black metal album. How did you communicate your ideas for the album cover with Jacob in the early stages of creating this cover?

R: 我觉得雅各布对这个想法非常感兴趣！他告诉我他已经是我的乐迷了，而且我看到他分享过他正在听的音乐，发现我们的品味有很多重合之处。我认为雅各布很早就理解了我的构想，这帮助他把想法完美地呈现出来。我脑海中已经有了专辑封面的大致构想，我记得我用画图软件GIMP快速粗略地做了一个草图，只是把几张参考照片拼接在一起，然后把我的logo贴上去，发给了他。结果他第一张草图就完美地实现了我的想法。

I think Jacob was really intrigued by the idea! He had told me that he was already a fan of my music, and I had seen him share music that he was listening to and realized our tastes overlapped quite a bit. I think Jacob was able to see the vision pretty early on, and that helped him execute the idea so well. I had an idea in my head of what I wanted the album cover to look like, I remember I made a really quick and crude mock-up in GIMP just clipping a couple pieces of reference photos together and slapping my logo on top that I sent him, and he nailed it on the very first sketch.

V: 你来自北卡罗莱纳州的阿什维尔，可以向我们介绍一下你的家乡是什么样的吗？成长于阿什维尔对你的创作有哪些影响？

You're from Asheville, North Carolina. Could you tell us what your hometown is like? How has growing up in Asheville influenced your creative work?

R: 我现在的确住在北卡罗来纳州的阿什维尔，但我其实是在德克萨斯州的休斯顿长大的！休斯顿是个非常大的城市，文化多元，我觉得在成长过程中接触到如此多的不同文化，让我在音乐品味上保持了开放的心态。我现在居住的阿什维尔是一座非常注重艺术的城市，所以我觉得身边有这么多热爱音乐的人，确实给了我很多灵感。这里还有许多郁郁葱葱的森林和山峦，总会让我想起《指环王》。

I do live in Asheville, North Carolina now, but I actually grew up in Houston, Texas! Houston is a very large city with lots of diversity, and I think being around so many different cultures growing up has helped me keep an open mind when it comes to my music tastes. Where I live now in Asheville is a very arts focused city, so I think being around lots of people who are into music helps inspire me. We also have lots of green forests and mountains here that remind me of Lord of the Rings.

V: 你是全职音乐家吗？如果不是，我很好奇你的本职工作是什么？在做音乐之余，你都有哪些爱好？

Are you a full-time musician? If not, I'm curious—what's your day job? Besides making music, what are your hobbies?

R: 我不是全职音乐家，我的本职工作是在一家汽车零部件公司绘制生产图纸。这虽然不是我特别热衷的工作，但我倒也不太介意。除了音乐，我还喜欢打游戏、徒步旅行、做饭和拼高达模型。

I’m not a full time musician, I have a day job making manufacturing drawings for an automotive parts company. It’s not necessarily something I’m passionate about, but I don’t mind it so much. Besides music, I enjoy gaming, going hiking, cooking, and building Gundam models.

V: 我在你的其中一篇采访里看到你喜欢玩Stardew Valley，同为Stardew Valley玩家我好像更加能理解你的作品了。你有特别喜欢的游戏配乐吗？你觉得你喜欢的游戏会在一定程度上对你的创作产生影响吗？

I saw in one of your interviews that you enjoy playing Stardew Valley. As a fellow Stardew Valley player myself, I feel like I can understand your work even better now. Do you have any particular video game soundtracks that you really love? And do you think the games you enjoy have influenced your creative process to some extent?

R: 我超爱《星露谷物语》！我有很多喜欢的游戏原声带，它们总是能给我带来灵感。电子游戏确实在很多方面影响了我的创作过程。当然，近藤浩治是我巨大的灵感来源，尤其是《时之笛》和《姆吉拉的面具》，这两部作品的原声带是我历来最喜欢的；此外还有很多《星之卡比》的原声带、《银河战士Prime》、《我的世界》、《奥日与黑暗森林》，我能一直举例到时间尽头。

I love Stardew Valley so much! I have so many video game soundtracks that I love and am constantly inspired by. Video games have absolutely influenced my creative process in a lot of ways. Koji Kondo of course is a huge inspiration, especially Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask are two all time favorites, also a lot of Kirby soundtracks, Metroid Prime, Minecraft, Ori and the Blind Forest, I could go on for a long time.

V: 可以分享一下你最近都在听哪些专辑吗？你最近在听哪些黑金属乐队和黑金属专辑？除了金属，你还有在听哪些音乐风格？

Can you share what albums you’ve been listening to lately? Which black metal bands and albums have you been listening to recently? Besides metal, what other genres of music are you listening to?

R: 最近我一直在循环Feeble Little Horse的新专辑《bitknot》和Underscores的新专辑《U》。当我想听黑金属时，我会选择Bonjour Tristesse、Fluisteraars、Bull of Apis Bull of Bronze，或者一些经典老作品，比如Windir的《1184》或Immortal的《At the Heart of Winter》。除了金属和电子游戏原声带，我最近还特别迷上了一些受独立电子乐和超流行音乐（hyperpop）启发的作品，比如Porter Robinson或Jane Remover。

Lately I have had the new Feeble Little Horse album “bitknot” and the new Underscores album “U” on constant repeat. When I’m in the mood for black metal, I’ve been going to Bonjour Tristesse, Fluisteraars, Bull of Apis Bull of Bronze, or some old favorite classics like Windir’s 1184, or Immortal’s At the Heart of Winter. Besides metal and video game music, I’ve really been into more indietronica and hyperpop inspired stuff like Porter Robinson or Jane Remover.

V: 我看到你在bandcamp上更新的消息说你已经在准备《Onward》专辑的黑胶版本了，这真是个好消息！目前还有哪些关于《Onward》实体唱片和Lammoth周边商品的消息可以分享给大家吗？

I saw your update on Bandcamp saying you're already preparing the vinyl version of the "Onward" album, that's great news! Is there anything else you can share about the physical copy of "Onward" and Lammoth merchandise?

R: 是的，就在我回答这些问题的时候，第一批黑胶唱片其实已经售罄了。我们最初计划发行200张，结果很快就卖光了，于是我们又增至500张，结果半天内也全部售罄。Fiadh Productions 的规模很小，所以目前只能做到这样，但我们希望将来能发行更多！除此之外，我还计划重新上架我的“霍比特人反法西斯”T恤，并推出一款以小马比尔为主题的全新设计。

Yes, and at the time I’m answering these questions, we have actually already sold out of the first vinyl version. We planned for 200 copies originally, and they sold out so quickly we increased to 500 which also sold out within only half a day. Fiadh Productions is a very small operation, so we have to cap it there for now, but we are hoping to do more in the future! Other than that I am planning to restock my “Hobbits Against Fascism” t-shirt design, and release a brand new design featuring Bill the Pony.

V: 你是否有过现场演出的经历？如果将来有机会，你有将Lammoth的音乐搬上舞台的计划吗？

Have you ever performed live? If you have the opportunity in the future, do you plan to bring Lammoth's music to the stage?

R: 目前为止我只演出过一次，是和我的两位超棒的地牢合成器音乐好友Foglord和Spife一起。那场演出我是独奏，演奏的是我现有歌曲的地牢合成器混音版。我确实在考虑举办更多现场演出，目前正处于组建一支完整现场乐队的初期阶段，这样我们就能办一些专场演出，甚至可能参加音乐节。

I have played one show so far, it was with my dungeon synth friends Foglord and Spife who are amazing. For that show, I played solo and decided to do all dungeon synth remixes of my existing songs. I am definitely thinking of playing some more live shows, and am currently in the very early stages of putting together a full session band so we can play select dates and maybe festivals.

V: 非常感谢Robert回答我们的问题！我真的很感激在2026年还能听到像《Onward》这样有趣又包容的金属音乐作品。我会继续支持Lammoth和你的音乐，也希望通过这次采访能让更多乐迷对你和lammoth的音乐有更深入的了解。最后，请对一直支持你的乐迷以及通过新专辑认识你的乐迷们说点什么吧！

A massive thank you to Robert for taking the time to answer our questions! It's absolutely incredible that in 2026, we're still blessed with music as fun, bold, and inclusive as Onward. I'll be cheering for Lammoth and your journey every step of the way, and I truly hope this interview gives fans a real taste of the magic behind your music. Last but not least, would you like to share a few words with your longtime supporters and all the new listeners discovering you through this album?

R: 非常感谢你们给我这次机会，并让我登上你们的杂志。能与中国乐迷分享我的想法和音乐，我感到无比荣幸。我只想对所有新老乐迷说一声谢谢，你们无尽的支持让我深受感动，对我来说意义非凡。请大家保重自己，也彼此关爱，让我们像萨姆对待小马比尔那样，一起传播爱吧！

Thank you so much for the opportunity and including me in your magazine. It’s such an honor to get to share my thoughts and music with the people of China. I just want to say thank you so much to all my fans new and old, your endless support has been overwhelming and means the world to me. Take care of yourselves and each other, and let’s spread love the same way Sam showed love to Bill the Pony!